KABANATA 10
"Is this a joke?" Ren scoffed, both hands on his waist as he took a quick glance at me. "For three years, we've been doing fine without a songwriter... Para saan pa 'to?"
"True. Ever since the band debuted, the songs you've written have gathered millions of fans here and abroad," sagot ni Eunice, a middle-aged woman who clearly could stand her own.
He turned to me; brow raised as he slowly licked his lip.
"Kung ganoon para saan..." muli sana niyang tanong nang putulin iyon ng Marketing Manager nila.
"The management has decided that we go global. To do this, we need your songs to be on par with what's on the market now, both music- and lyrics-wise."
Agaran ang pagkunot ng noo at ang pagbaling nito sa kanilang Manager dahil sa narinig.
"Ibig mo bang sabihin walang ganoong quality ang mga kanta namin ngayon? May I remind you who's holding the number one spot for five consecutive weeks on the charts right now?"
Tumikhim si Eunice at inayos ang kanyang tindig.
"There's no doubt that you have established a fandom here. With your looks and songs about pain, anger, booze and sex, you easily won them over. But now we need to please a wider range of audience, of diverse culture, not just the local scene... Dito papasok ang expertise ni Arianne," paliwanag nito bago bumaling sa puwesto ko. Ganoon din ang ginawa ng iba.
"Paano niya naman gagawin iyon?" tanong ni Jypssy. "Hitsura pa lang, parang wala naman siyang kaalam-alam tungkol sa paggawa ng kanta."
"Does she even know how to play an instrument?" tanong ni Gab.
"Sa naalala ko, marunong tumugtog ng gitara si Ian. Maganda rin ang boses niya," kaswal lang na sabi ni Tope. "'Di ba, King? Sinasali pa nga natin siya minsan—" agad na tinutop nito ang bibig nang balingan siya ng kanilang hari, probably with warning looks.
"Talaga?" si Rick na muli akong nilapitan. "Parinig nga ng sample," kumindat pa ito.
"I think the question here is, what has she done to earn the trust of the management to write songs for this band and for such purpose, too? Does she have prior experience in the music scene? Hmm? Kasi parang ngayon ko lang nalamang active pala siya sa industriyang ito. Ngayon ko pa nga lang siya nakita uli..." bumaling uli siya sa akin. Nakangiti man, ramdam ko ang nakatagong sarkasmo sa kanyang mga binitawang kataga.
Natigil lang ang kanyang paninitig nang biglang natawa si Gerard. Napalingon kaming lahat sa kanya. He smiled at me before speaking to all of them.
"Actually, Arianne has written a number of hit songs in the international scene. All of which reached top ten on the first day of their release. Ganoon siya kagaling!"
That earned echoes of ohhs and whistles from the others. Pero nagtaas lang ng kilay si Ren sa mga nalaman.
"Oh? Which one?" tanong pa nito.
"Which genre?" balik-tanong naman ng aking kaibigan, not backing down.
Sandali pa akong nilingon ni Ren bago sinagot si Gerard.
"Rock."
"Hmm..." my friend hummed as though he was trying to think of a song I wrote on that genre. Hindi naman iyon mahirap isipin lalo na't siya pa ang nagpasa ng partikular na kantang agad sumikat unang araw pa lang na pinatugtog sa radio sa isang kilalang American rock band. Kaya nang makita ko siyang ngumisi, alam kong iyon nga ang kanyang isasagot.
"Remember that song which ousted you from your spot almost a year ago?" panimula niyang agad ikinasimangot ni Ren. "Iyong nag-number one kayo sa OPM list for two weeks straight pero naging number two na lang pagkalabas noon at hindi na nabawi pa ang spot? Iyon naging OST ng isang blockbuster movie nitong taon lang?"
BINABASA MO ANG
Paper Moon
General Fiction"I do," he said and then the man declared their union in front of God and of every person that mattered in their lives. And she, like every girl, thought that the next lines in their story book would be 'and they live happily ever after'. But they w...
